Dance
by Psychic Prince
Summary: Ike wants to ask Zelda to the upcoming dance, but there's one problem: he can't dance. Marth promises to help Ike learn how to win Zelda over, but what will happen when Marth's own feelings get in the way? IkexMarth, LinkxZelda, hinted IkexZelda


**Hiya! I know, I should be updating my other stories, but I couldn't resist writing this! I usually hate the idea of dancing, but this time was a small exception... **

**This is mostly IkexMarth, but I couldn't help but put LinkxZelda in there too. Hinted IkexZelda.**

**Warnings: Use of alcohol**

**I don't own anything! Enjoy!**

* * *

"Marth! I need your help!"

Marth glanced up from his book as Ike burst into their shared room, his expression panicked.

"What is it, Ike?"Marth asked curiously, closing his book. It was rare to see Ike this frazzled, and Marth had a feeling that whatever the problem was, it was important. "Someone stole your chicken? Mario forgot to wear his underwear? Somebody died suddenly? We're being attacked? Is the world coming to an end? Just _tell me_, Ike!"

Color rose up towards Ike's cheeks, yet another reaction that Marth wasn't used to.

"Well..."

"Yes, Ike?"

"I... well..."

"Yes...?"

"Well..."

"For goodness sake, Ike! Just spit it out already!"Marth cried impatiently, throwing his hands up into the air. He took a deep breath to calm himself, then muttered, "Forgive me for losing my patience, but can you _please _get to the point?"

Ike shuffled his feet, then blurted out, "I need you to teach me how to dance!"

Marth's eyebrows shot up so high that they disappeared underneath his bangs.

"Not a fast dance; like ballroom dancing."

Again, Marth didn't answer in words; he was still trying to process Ike's words. "Eh?"

Ike sat cross-legged on the floor dejectedly. "Well, you see, there's that dance that Peach planned, right? The one that's supposed to be in honor of spring. I, er, wanted to ask Zelda out to dance with me because I think she's kinda cute, and I... urgh, I can't dance!"

Somehow, Marth managed to regain his composure and stood up, looking down on Ike. "So you wanted me to teach you?"

Ike ducked his head and muttered, "Yeah."

_I don't want to do it. _

"I'll help you,"Marth announced.

_What about me? What about my "happy ending"?_

"I'll do whatever it takes to make you successful,"he added.

Ike looked up, his eyes shining. "You will?!"

Something inside of Marth fluttered slightly, but he pushed the feeling away, putting on a falsely cheerful smile. "Of course."

"Where do we start?"

Marth coughed lightly, then bowed deeply and courteously to Ike, who was still seated on the floor. Ike looked confused but attentive and ready to learn, and watched as Marth closed his eyes slowly.

"May I have this dance?"Marth murmured, holding out his right hand as he opened one of his eyes halfway to gaze at Ike.

Ike remained seated, dumbfounded, then began to guffaw out loud. "Are you kidding, Marth?! That was hilarious!"

"It wasn't intended to be,"Marth huffed, embarrassed, as he snatched his hand away and straightened up. "I was being serious."

"What, you really want me to act as the girl? News flash, I'm need to learn how to dance the guy's part!"

The prince opened his mouth to argue, then closed it, knowing that Ike was right.

_Why do I always have to act as the girl?_

"Fine."

Ike stood up and then awkwardly walked closer to Marth. "What do I need to do?"

Marth sighed inwardly, then took Ike's hand and placed it at his waist gently. "Hold the woman's waist here, and she'll place her hand on your shoulder here,"he said quietly, placing his own hand gingerly on Ike's shoulder. "Take her free hand with yours."

Obediently, Ike took his hand and held it up. "Like this?"

Silently, the prince nodded in response and began shifting his feet slightly, humming a made-up song quietly. Ike awkwardly tried to imitate Marth's small but graceful motions, but without much success.

As they began to move across the bedroom floor, Marth winced inwardly and took in a sharp breath. Ike was unintentionally stepping on his feet and fumbling, and his fingernails were digging into Marth's hand and waist. Nonetheless, Marth said nothing; instead, he began to murmur encouragement and continued to gently lead him.

After a long, painful, and awkward twenty minutes or so, Ike began to finally get the hang of things. He took more lively steps and softened his grip on Marth, and even started to take the lead instead. Marth smiled to himself and continued his humming as Ike tried to successfully spin him around. The quiet atmosphere of the room continued without interruption.

Thirty minutes passed.

Forty.

Fifty.

An hour.

Marth didn't want their dancing session to end, but he knew that they'd have to stop eventually. As he tried to bring the humming to a close, he seemed to have lost all gracefulness and tripped over Ike's foot.

The mercenary reacted on impulse, yanking Marth's hand towards him roughly and pulling the prince up before he could fall. Marth felt his head spin as his body collided with Ike's, forcefully burying his face into the mercenary's shirt. When he was able to finally form any relevant thought, Marth nearly gasped out loud, realizing what kind of a position he was in.

_Ike saved me... He's holding me... I can't breathe..._

Marth yanked his face away from Ike's chest to gasp for air and stumble away, his face a deep crimson.

"I – I'm so sorry!"

On the other hand, Ike didn't seem to notice Marth's reactions and simply waved his hand good-naturedly. "That's what friends are for,"he replied.

_Friends. That's right. We're just friends._

"Thanks for teaching me how to dance like that, Marth! I can definitely ask Zelda to dance without any worries now!"Ike said in a satisfied tone.

"No problem. You're a fast learner, and I'm sure that Zelda will fall for you,"Marth said, forcing the words out, "Anything for you, my good _friend_."

_We're just friends. Nothing more._

* * *

"Marth, I thought you said you weren't coming."

Link sat down on a bench beside Marth, watching the other Smashers begin to find dancing partners. Marth looked down at his glass and into the small amount of wine in it, staring at his own reflection.

"I wasn't planning on it, but Ike insisted,"he mumbled, "Now I regret it. I feel too weird wearing this formal suit." Marth fidgeted with his little black bow tie uncomfortably with one free hand.

His friend nodded knowingly, then glanced at Marth again. "Hey, aren't you too young to be drinking?"

"I'm older than I look,"he replied bluntly, "Are you dancing?"

From the corner of his eye, Marth could see Link's eyebrow twitch slightly. "No. I was going to ask Zelda to dance, but it looks like Ike got there first,"he muttered in a strained voice.

Marth almost laughed out loud in a bitter way and said, "Really? The person I wanted to dance with is taken too!" As he said so, his head spun slightly, but he shook it off.

Link looked at Marth curiously. "Hey, are you sure you're okay? Maybe you should stop drinking; you don't sound like yourself."

Ignoring Link's advice, Marth drained the glass in one go and got up, probably to get a refill as the dance began.

* * *

Ike had never felt so excited and nervous in his whole life as he danced in sync with Zelda. She smiled up at him and he felt himself go pink in response.

He didn't mess up too badly after all. There was just that one time where he accidentally bumped into Mario as he passed him. And that time when he almost led Zelda off-balance. Or that other time...

_Okay, maybe I'm not as good as I thought. I guess I'm not used to dancing with anyone other than Marth..._

The music ended momentarily, and Peach's voice could be heard clearly from every part of the room. "Thank you all for coming!"she said loudly and smiled.

Bored, Ike glanced to his right while Peach continued to chatter on energetically. At the corner of his vision, he saw Link frantically waving at him, his expression serious.

"I'll be back,"Ike muttered to Zelda, then made his way through the crowd towards Link, who was standing near a bench and table.

"Dude, you've gotta help me,"Link hissed, "I didn't know that Marth was such a lightweight!"

_Lightweight indeed_.

Just as Link said, Marth was slumped over, sitting at the bench, his eyes glazed over and his head in his hands, as if he were having a massive headache. When Ike approached, he glanced up and grinned, his expression drowsy.

"Ike!"he hiccuped, "So good of you to join us!"

"Marth, you're drunk,"Ike said bluntly, standing in front of him, "I'll take you upstairs."

"I'm not drunk!"

Link laughed nervously, "That's what everyone says when they're drunk."

"Come on, just get up, Marth,"Ike said in exasperation, "Just do this for me."

Marth just stared at the floor in response, his eyes half-closed. When Ike made a small motion to grab his arm, Marth stood, getting right up into Ike's face.

He began to rant, and his words confused Ike. "I'm always doing things for other people! I mean, I want you to be happy, but what about me? Maybe I'm just being selfish again, but I don't know if I can handle this anymore!"

Rolling his eyes, Ike grunted, "What are you talking about, Marth? Come on, let's go. You're completely delirious, and-"

Before Ike could finish, Marth reached up and roughly grabbed Ike's face, pulling him into a forceful kiss. Shocked, Ike didn't react and simply stood rooted to the spot, his eyes wide, until Marth pulled away. He stumbled backwards, falling into the table, which caused a small cup of ice to tip over and splash Marth all over. The coldness of the ice seemed to jerk Marth into soberness, and he gasped out loud, staring up at Ike in a horrified manner.

Marth scrambled up, his hair sopping wet, and before anyone could say a word, he fled the room, slamming the door behind him.

* * *

Link gaped as he stared after Marth's retreating back, then stole a quick glance at Ike.

The mercenary was stiff and his eyes were wide and staring at the spot where Marth had been. Slowly, he reached a hesitant hand up and touched the place where the prince's lips met his, then jerked forward, breaking into a sprint and swinging the door open to chase after Marth.

Link let out a shaky breath, and turned to nod towards Peach. "I think everything's gonna be fine. Let's just all have a great time, okay?"he said reassuringly. It wasn't a great excuse for what had just occurred, but some of the Smashers nodded and looked slightly relieved. After all, it wasn't everyday that one would see a (normally) level-headed prince kiss a mercenary in clear public.

Peach's worried face broke into a small smile, and Link could see Zelda smiling at him as well, albeit a bit worriedly.

The rest of the Smashers broke into a small chorus of muttering, then the chattering gradually grew louder until the room was almost back to its original, cheery state. Link wove his way through the crowd, finally reaching Zelda, who stepped closer to him as well.

He took Zelda by the hand and pulled her close to him, murmuring, "You saw, right?"

She nodded in response.

"Don't worry. Ike knows what he's doing. I'm sure of it."

Zelda quietly hugged him and whispered. "I know."

* * *

Ike's mind was racing as he ran through the darkly-lit halls towards his room.

_What was Marth thinking?_

Reaching his and Marth's shared room, he tried to turn the doorknob, only to find that it was locked tightly. Ike banged his fists loudly against the door, yelling, "Marth! Are you in there?"

No response. Ike took this opportunity to test his actual strength and rammed himself into the door forcefully. The wood splintered, and the door fell away under Ike's full weight.

_Huh. I'm stronger than I think I am. Otherwise, I'm just getting heavy..._

The room was pitch black. Fumbling, Ike managed to find the light switch and flicked it on, flooding the room with sudden brightness. When his eyes adjusted to the brightness, Ike saw Marth huddled in one corner of the room, his face buried in his knees and water dripping from his hair and into a small puddle.

"Marth!" Without meaning to, Ike had yelled the prince's name out loud, making him wince and shrink even further away.

"Go ahead,"came the muffled reply, "I just ruined your night. Go ahead and kill me now."

Ike rolled his eyes and kneeled next to Marth. "Don't be ridiculous."

Marth lifted his head up, and a stream of water – no, tears – fell down his face. "I just embarrassed you in front of everyone. I'm such a terrible, selfish person, aren't I?"

"No, er, well, actually yes, I'm a bit embarrassed,"Ike admitted, "But I'm not mad at you. You're not terrible; you're a precious person to me, do you understand?"

Again, he got no response. Ike sighed, then murmured, "You know, Marth... You should've just told me... I like you too."

At this, Marth's eyes went wide, and Ike leaned forward, gently kissing Marth's forehead and standing up. He stretched his hand out for Marth to take, and bowed slightly.

"May I have this dance?"

* * *

**Eh, I'm horrible at endings. And fluffy stories. T-T  
**

**I've actually had this idea for a while now, but I had a hard time putting it in words. I hope it's not too bad. :(**

**Also, I've never been to a dance before, so I'm not sure how people dance and such... I'm a horrible dancer myself, actually. I made the dance part really awkward, didn't I? *sobs***

**Please review!**

**- Psychic**


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